Anyone considering buying a Panasonic SD9 or a similar Canon, Sony or others should consider the cost of additional batteries in the equation. This is especially so if, like me, you want to buy a few cheap spares. While the initial cost of a Panny SD9 is very competitive, there are no clone batteries out there. There has been some chatter about how a DU14 (available as a clone) can be made to fit an SD9. I tried it and was able to get the DU14 to fit (after an initial failure). However, it appears that Panasonic has installed a battery protection scheme because although the camera booted and the LCD screen showed the scene, after 3 seconds a warning "THIS BATTERY CANNOT BE USED" appeared and after another 3 seconds, the camcorder shut itself down (the battery was fully charged). I suspect they built the "protection" into the VBG130's "smart chip" (or should I say they built the "permission" into the "smart chip").

Anyone who has looked into buying SD9 replacement batteries has found that first, there is a real shortage of them available and second, they are priced around $100. I urge you to narrow your choices then go on Ebay and determine if you can buy cheap replacement batteries for each of your choices. You may find that when all is said and done, the Canons, Sony's etc are a cheaper way to go. As a lifelong Canon user, I was lured into the Panny SD9 because of the low price going in. Now I wish I had stayed in the Canon camp.

Yes...I have the same problem

After having purchased the camera four months ago there are still no batteries available...they have to be ordered specially and the dealer cannot tell me the price....so I'm stuck with the basic unit which is good for just over an hour at highest quality

the 'similar' looking batteries for older cameras by Panasonic are missing a couple of new little notches which prevent their use..

It is getting like ink-jet printers....they almost give away the printer...then charge the earth for the ink and use chips to tell you you MUST change the cartridge when it is still one-third full

They probably call this 'Business'.....I call it CHEATING

You're right Fred. Your "ink jet printer" analogy is also spot on.

I'm trying to spread the word so prospective buyers will consider this when deciding among competing brands. If they still buy Panasonic, that's fine; they'll have done so with all the information.

I'm also trying to shame Panasonic into doing the right thing by their customers. Furthermore, is this the business plan for all future models?

Panasonic, here's the gripe. When someone buys an "SD storage only" camcorder, they need to spend their extra bucks on additional cards. The hundred dollars you want for a simple battery can be used to buy two 8GB SDHC cards and a cheap spare battery (I can provide the links for those items if I must) for a Sony or a Canon or your other competitors. This makes for a happy and loyal customer.

Just do a Google search, I found some for $11.00 each.

Cali, so buy one and then you can report back how you got hosed. Amazon was listing about five that were claimed to be compatable. They weren't and now they are gone.

This is the situation: You can either buy

1. the authentic Panasonic VBG130 or 260 and pay through the nose or

2. a "piggy-back" battery that requires your original battery so it can "pass through" the original's chip code. This doubles the capacity of your original battery or

3. buy a clone from Hong Kong (usually a 260) that requires (includes) a "dummy plug" that is inserted into the DC-in port of your camcorder. Somehow this fools the camcorder that it is getting power from the wall outlet (or "mains" as the Brits call it). Right now the HK clones on Ebay go for about $35 plus $12 shipping.